A graduation speech for a special school

Last Friday, Jeff was invited to speak at the Confluence Academies' graduation speech. The Confluence Academies are a group of public charter schools co-founded by Jeff, which focus on educating lower-income and struggling city youths. Jeff's speech concerned how proud he is to be a part of this successful education program serving St. Louis kids. The schools, government-funded and free of charge, have become so popular in the community that talks are in place to open a third Confluence Academy.

Jeff regularly gives tours of the school to families and visitors. "My pride in the schools really crystallized when I was giving a tour of the school the other day and a student approached me to tell me his scores on the monthly tests had gone from 50 percent up to 90 percent," he said. This student's success mirrors the larger success the school has seen in improved test scores across the board.

Jeff concluded his speech by recognizing the important role parents had in the schools' development. Jeff, who sits on the board of directors, was especially honored that the parents of the 1400 students in the school were consistently faithful to the Academies, despite the difficulties and challenges that large start-up educational programs often face.